Whirr—
The airplane passed through the clouds.
Inside the cabin, several flight attendants, their cheeks red from drinking, were sprawled out on the wide sofas in various poses, fast asleep.
Although these beautiful women were somewhat disheveled, the three gentlemen were class and had only watched their energetic dance without throwing any wild parties...
…..
[Their parents died young, the two siblings relied on each other to survive, but the sister was forcibly taken away, while the brother was beaten to death...]
"Ah—"
Tony yawned.
"Hey, Li, what's that playing on your phone? This story is so melodramatic."
"Just a short video, but the algorithm is quite accurate."
Ye Li swiped the screen, skipping that video, and looked out the window——
Green hills, scattered white and gray buildings.
Sokovia, they had arrived.
"Why are we visiting this small inland Eastern Europe country?"
Strange put down his bargain-bin copy of 'The Complete Book of Magic' and looked out the window too.
"Even if this is some side-trip, you could have picked a better sightseeing spot. This place... hmm....."
He was trying to find an appropriate description...
Ye Li replied, "Middle of nowhere?"
Snap~
Tony snapped his fingers and chimed in, "Perfect description."
He also thought this place wasn't worth it. They might as well have gone to Hawkins.
"You two better not underestimate Sokovia."
Ye Li stepped over the passed-out, sexy flight attendants and approached the plane's control panel.
He tapped the screen several times, while a golden gem on the black wristband on his other arm began to glow faintly.
Within seconds, he effortlessly retrieved hidden Hydra files from Sokovia.
"What's this?"
Stark scanned the screen quickly and quickly noticed something suspicious.
Ye Li didn't hold back.
"Ever heard of HYDRA?"
"Hydra? The one Cap fought against? Did they resurrect along with Rogers?"
Tony tapped on the screen, scanning the hacked files, finding it harder and harder to believe.
"Oh~ If Steve sees this, he'll be thrilled… Jarvis, where did these files come from?"
[Sir]
Jarvis reported: [According to the pathway provided by Mr. Ye, the signal was backtracked and originated from the central castle in Sokovia.]
"Hey..."
Strange, though confused, rubbed his eyebrows and remarked.
"Ye, you brought a powerless man like me and a plane full of women… to hunt down a terrorist organization…?"
"No worries, Stephen."
Tony pointed at a storage compartment.
Click.
The cabinet door automatically opened—
Inside was a gold and red suit of armor.
"Isn't Iron Man still here?"
Tony boasted, "Maybe I can take care of HYDRA, liberate the country, and have something to brag about to Cap."
Strange: "…You have too much free time."
"Just a heads-up, I have no interest in dealing with Hydra. That's Nick Fury's problem."
Ye Li started piloting the plane, setting course for the nearest airport, preparing for descent—
"I came here to find a girl."
Strange: "Aha?"
Tony: "Chasing girls?"
Strange: "You're even more frivolous than I thought....."
Clack—
Tony gestured, and the cabinet holding the armor closed again.
He opened his arms, motioning toward the beautiful women lying on the sofa— "Aren't these enough for you?"
"..." Ye Li couldn't be bothered to argue with him.
…..
Wuenen———!
The jet marked with the Stark Industries logo landed at Sokovia's only national airport...
Immediately drawing a lot of attention.
Sokovia's airport often received all kinds of private jets for various reasons.
But a high-tech craft like Tony's was a rare sight.
Especially that eye-catching Stark logo — it got people talking.
Among those most on alert was Baron Strucker, who received the intel.
"A private jet from Stark Industries?"
He asked his men, "Did you identify who came off the plane?"
His subordinate immediately played a surveillance video and reported, "Three individuals. Facial recognition confirms them as Iron Man Tony Stark, Vice President of the Ghost Spider Club Ye Li, and former top surgeon Stephen Strange."
"Iron Man? Did the Avengers find us? Or was it S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Looking at the strange trio, Strucker was a bit confused, "The VP of a club and a surgeon?"
His subordinate speculated, "If they discovered us, it doesn't make sense for them to come with just three people, and so openly. They're probably here for something else..."
"Tch~"
Strucker sneered.
"What else could bring them to a tiny country like Sokovia?"
He glanced at an energy cannon placed beside him—one of the Chitauri weapons recently transported from New York.
The organization had managed to acquire quite a few Chitauri technology remnants through their spies embedded within S.H.I.E.L.D.
And even…
Behind Strucker, in the factory, lay the remains of a Leviathan battleship — a massive wreck they'd gone to great lengths to obtain.
However, the remains were heavily damaged, almost reduced to a pile of scrap. Strucker had no idea which superhero had hit it so hard…